Akron preview

[MarkL]

I always like playing Akron. Not just because we beat them with regularity, but because it is often a fun series.

TL;DR version
Akron is a team built upon defense. This is the best MAC team we've played so far. Though their defense is very good, I do believe we have an offense that will give them troubles and should lead us to victory.

The Series
- We are on a six game winning streak over Akron dating back to November 2007
- Some of the games in that streak have been a lot of fun ...
... - In 2007 we were at 4-4 and looking to be in a rut. The team dominated Akron which propelled them to an undefeated November
... - We had a great come-from-behind win over Akron in 2008, highlighted by Marques Parks' amazing adjustment under a Sheehan pass
... - In 2012, we found ourselves down 10-0 at the half. We dominated all fronts of the second half. If you discount Akron's final drive against our prevent defense with the game out of reach, we held them to single digit second half yards
... - In 2014 we played in a rain-soaked field. Akron's QB Kyle Pohl completed about as many passes to our secondary as he did to his receivers

Akron
Akron is without a doubt a must-win game. Beat these guys and we are a wins over Ohio and Kent from another East sweep and a leg up on all east competition. This will be a challenging game as we have a solid team coming to our stadium Saturday.

Offense
- Akron is a balanced offense, scoring 26 a game. On the season they are nearly split between passing and rushing yards, and between passing and rushing first downs.
- Senior QB Kyle Pohl has had an up and down career. He begain this season as the starter and didn't exactly do much. He was injured against Pitt and has not seen action since. So I am fully expecting that sophomore Tommy Woodson to get the start.
... - Tommy Woodson (6-1 240 - not a tall guy but big) is mobile though not necessarily a scrambler.
... - Woodson on the season is 57 / 110 (51.8%) for 7/3 TD/INT.
...... - He went 4/0 TD/INT vs EMU. And EMU was their last game. So he is coming into our game hot or he is coming into our game after playing an awful defense. Or both.
... - If you've ever seen Woodson throw, then you know he's got a very strong arm. He is very talented.
... - He also is the team's second leading rusher with 266 yards and 2 TDs.
... - Last year in my Akron preview, I noted that Woodson turned the ball over ... a lot. He is much better in that department this year. He has thrown 3 interceptions in 4 starts and has lost no fumbles. His ball security has improved greatly from last year.
... - Woodson is definitely not a Frohnapfel or a Lynch but he still is an efficient QB. Game changer? No, but he likely won't throw the game away for Akron.
- I've always liked Akron's leading rusher Connor Hundley. He's not a burner and not overly big (5-10 206) but he is a powerful guy. He leads with 474 (5.58 average) and 6 TDs. And no lost fumbles.
... - Akron has a scary fullback. Defensive lineman Cody Grice (5-11 275) comes in to the game for short yardage situations. He only has 8 carries for all of 17 yards, but that's good for 3 TDs.
... - Akron has a few other backs but I won't highlight them individually. Here's the thing to know - Akron is a balanced offense. The leading running back averages over 5 a carry. It helps that he's had a few 30-yard runs in there. You have to stop the run against these guys. I don't think they can beat you with the pass alone.
...... - The good news is our run defense has been awfully hot these past few weeks.
- Akron's receiving corps is ... yeah ... interesting.
... - Get this. I've never seen a stat like this halfway through the season. The leading receiver is .... a linebacker.
...... - Sophomore Jerome Lane is officially listed as a linebacker where he's second on the depth chart at that hybrid linebacker/safety position, though he starts as a receiver. Not a TE, a receiver. He has 12 for 346 (over 28 average!!) for 4 TDs.
...... - He's 6-3 220. Great size for a receiver.
...... - It seems like he comes up with a long reception in every game which explains the average. He has a 42 yarder vs Oklahoma, a 50 yarder vs Savannah State, a 72 yarders vs ULL, and a 39 yarder + 2 TDs vs EMU.
...... - Honestly, I can't wait to see this guy play. If nothing else, to see a linebacker make big plays on offense. You've got a linebacker as the leading receiver and the second leading rusher is a DL. How much fun is this?
... - The leading receiver who actually is a receiver is senior Imani Davis. He's a smaller guy, a quick athletic type. Similar to Burbrink in a lot of ways. He has 293 yards and 2 TDs on the season.
... - The only other receiver in double digit receptions is junior Tyrell Goodman. He's also a good sized receiver at 6-2 215. He has 10 receptions for 82 and no TDs.
... - There are a few other receivers with catches and stats but nobody else with double digits.
... - This really isn't exactly a scary receiving unit. But c'mon, you've got a linebacker leading all the receviers. I'm looking forward to this one.
- This is a balanced offense that relies upon the run. Stop the run and you stop their offense.
- I genuinely do not believe Akron can beat us with the pass.
- Remember UMass converting 3rd and longs to frustrating degrees last week? I don't think that happens again with Akron. At least I sure hope not.

Defense
- I said early on that Akron is a good team. Nothing on the offense besides a good rushing attack sounds necessarily scary. Well, be ready for this defense.
- The defense gives up 20.5 a game. And that includes an expected blowout loss to Oklahoma.
... - Mind you it took OU a while to get moving on this defense.
- Here's two stats that should impress you.
... - 1. The top five tacklers are all seniors. This is a sign of solid coaching and player progression.
... - 2. The top three tacklers are the three starting linebackers. This is a sign that plays rarely escape the front seven.
- The three linebackers:
... - Jatavis Brown has 26 solo tackles ... in 6 games. Along with 26 assists. And 7.5 TFLs and 5 sacks.
...... - He is one of the best defensive players we will see all year. He has NFL potential, except he might be too small at 5-11 222.
... - Dylan Evans has 30 solo tackles ... in 6 games. Plus 5.5 TFLs and 1.5 sacks.
...... - Something I really have to point out. He is majoring in emergency management and homeland security. I respect that greatly.
... - Darryl Monroe has 20 solo tackles. He is a graduate tranfer from Washington State, so this will be his only year as a Zip.
- Safety DeAndre Scott has 4 interceptions in 6 games to lead the way. Be awfully careful throwing over the middle.
... - And it's not like he intercepted Savannah State or EMU 4 times. His picks are in 4 different games, including one against Oklahoma.
- Another important note: 3 of the starting 4 DLs are transfers from big schools. Two from Ohio State and one from Iowa State.
... - Akron's fans make a huge deal out of this, and all their other big transfers. I'm not sure I agree. Transfers from bigger programs are kids who were considered more talented coming out of high school but did not cut it on their own team in the first year or so (or in the case of Monroe above, graduated and transferred).
... - I am glad we brought Robbie Rhodes on at WR. I think he could have a HUGE impact for us. But so far he has not done much. Just because a kid is considered highly talented as a 17 year old does not mean he will be a great college player.
... - Just look at all the success MAC players have found in the NFL. I remember the Super Bowl between the Steelers and the Packers in 2011. I believe the MAC was the best represented conference.
... - This is all a long way of saying I do not buy into the hype of Akron's DL. Yes they are talented and they will probably give our OL a hard time. But I am more impressed with their LB corps - two of which were recruited to Akron and are now seniors and the third of which graduated from Washington State and is now in grad school at Akron.
- As a team, Akron has forced 12 fumbles and recovered 6. They recover an average of a fumble a game - though 2 of the fumbles recovered were coughed up by EMU.
- This is a great defense. One of the MAC's best. They rarely as a team miss tackles and they force turnovers.
- They have seen spread offenses.
... - The only hurry-up spread they've seen is Oklahoma. Obviously Oklahoma has better talent than we do but OU was without a doubt Akron's worst defensive showing. Still, OU took a while to get going.
- They held a good ULL team to 14 points and a good Ohio team to 14 in a loss.

Special Teams
- Two notes on ST. To hurry this section up.
... - Our retern defense units have been an issue all season. Akron's returners have done nothing of note. Let's hope it stays that way.
... - Akron's kicker is Robert Stein - younger brother of our former kicker Stephen Stein. Robert Stein is 7 / 10 on kicks. He's a great kicker.

Akron's season so far
-Akron is 3-3 (1-1) and has lost to Ohio. They are desperate, especially for MAC East wins.

- Akron was flattened by Oklahoma and lost well against Pitt. In both cases the defense did everything they could but the offense gave no help.
- Akron blew out Savannah State.
- Akron 35, Louisiana Lafayette 14
... - Utter defensive domination. Akron held ULL to 173 yards passing and picked off two passes and 112 yards rushing.
... - Woodson only hit 13 / 29 but it was for almost 240. And the team rushed for over 200. Effective offense.
- Ohio 14, Akron 12
... - Akron's defense played great. They held OU to 48 yards rushing on 32 attempts (!). Ohio was able to pass efficiently though.
... - Akron's offense did not really get on track. OU held Akron to 88 yards on 35 attempts. And the passing game could not come through.
... - Akron moved the ball but could only score on FGs, unable to finish drives with TDs.
- Akron 47, Eastern Michigan 21
... - EMU is improved but still MAC teams expect a win. Akron delivered.
... - EMU ran much more efficiently than Ohio which helped them score some.
... - Akron's offense came to life, with 278 rushing yards as a team. And Woodson had an efficient passing day, hitting 4 TDs.

Which all leads me to ....
Akron at Bowling Green
- As of now, we are 11.5 point favorites. Our offensive explosion against UMass helped the line in our favor I believe.
- Weather could be a bit of an issue. Chilly, windy day. It is homecoming, after all.
- Akron's offense all starts with the run. Our defense has been spectacular starting with the Purdue game against the run. I like the matchup.
- Akron's passing offense seems to rely upon the run to get on track. Our thin secondary should hopefully do better than last week.
- Our offense is just so explosive. The only similar offense Akron has seen is Oklahoma.
- Akron has a great defense but I genuinely believe we'll be able to move on them. Set a school record for yards? Probably not. Score enough to win? Yes.
- We should win this game.
... - It will be a good example of what we face when we start playing MAC west teams - better talent all around than UMass and a more run-oriented team.
- One thing to note. I said I like the matchup of their offense vs our defense. However, if we have problems stopping the run, we could have trouble. Akron can work the clock with their offense.
... - Their passing game is not explosive though sometimes efficient but their run game can take care of business.
... - If we get behind and their offense is able to chew up clock and convert third downs, we could be in trouble.
... - So it is key to get out to an early lead.
- Four things I want out of this game ...
... - A 3-0 conference record! Win this game and we are wins over Kent and Ohio from a third straight East sweep!
... - No injuries. For either team.
... - A clean game. We played cleanly last week, Valdez' penalty (which I'm not so sure about) excluded.
... - Momentum going into these last two east games. The next two games are Kent and Ohio. If we are hot going into those two ... and then hot leaving those two ... we are will enter the west games with momentum. We need that after last year's late-season meltdown.

My wife and I will be in town for homecoming. Would love to meet up with all of you as I haven't seen most of the gang on this board in a long, long time. Come find me in the tailgate lot, drink a beer, and catch up!

[jpfalcon09]

Akron's kicker is Robert Stein - younger brother of our former kicker Stephen Stein. Robert Stein is 7 / 10 on kicks. He's a great kicker.

Feels like Stein has been there for like ten years now! Great preview as always Mark!

[Falconfreak90]

Great preview Mark...always appreciate the info.

CRUSH ZIPPY